North East RadioWatch: May 14, 1999

CBM Leaves 940

Our top story this week comes from CANADA, where the CBC has departed
the AM dial in Montreal after 77 years. On Thursday, listeners to CBM
(940) heard programming interrupted every ten minutes by a recorded
announcement to switch to FM beginning at midnight. When the hour
arrived, CBC Radio One programming was interrupted mid-promo for a
repeating loop directing listeners to "88.5 on the FM dial" -- CBME,
the 4000-watt replacement for CBM's booming 50-kilowatt class-A
signal. The loop then ran for 24 hours, ending with no fanfare at
midnight Friday.

The CBC seems to already realize that the 88.5 signal is inadequate to
reach the old CBM audience; they asked the CRTC this week for
permission to boost power to 16900 watts (presumably directional to
protect adjacent-channel WXLU 88.3 in Peru NY and WWPV 88.7 in
Colchester VT), and they're reportedly being deluged with calls from
listeners who can't hear the FM replacements. That number, should
you, too, miss CBM is 514-597-4466.

For the next few months, DXers might get some interesting catches on
940, but Montreal won't be gone long. Expect the CRTC to decide
within a few months among the several applicants for 940 and 690,
abandoned earlier this year by CBF.

We'll edge back onto our home turf way up in northern MAINE, where
Andy Soule has moved on to a new job as morning jock, PD, promotions,
operations, and sales at WDME (103.1) in Dover-Foxcroft. Soule was
doing sales for the last few months at the Presque Isle combo of WQHR
(96.1)/WBPW (96.9)/WOZI (101.9), after several years as PD/operations
manager for the group. Also departing WBPW is longtime morning guy
J.R. Mitchell, who's now a beer distributor. OM/PD Rick Davis slides
across the hall from WQHR to take over mornings at WBPW, while Jason
McKay comes aboard to do mornings on Q96.1.

From NEW HAMPSHIRE comes word that Bruce Lyons has resigned as
general manager of WTSN (1270 Dover) and WBYY (98.7 Somersworth). No
replacement has been named.

We're saddened to report the passing of a VERMONT radio institution.
Bob Kimel came to the Green Mountain State in 1959 when he purchased
WWSR (1420), making good on a promise to own his own station by age
35. Kimel had been sales manager at WHAV AM-FM in Haverhill, Mass.
In later years, he added WSNO/WORK in Barre, WLFE St. Albans, and (for
a while) WEHW Windsor Locks, Connecticut to his station group. Kimel
also went to work for a station brokerage group, then started his own
firm, New England Media, which he ran until his retirement in 1990.
Kimel suffered a stroke on Thursday, May 6. He was 74. He's survived
by his wife, Bea, and sons John and David.

From the stunt file: Rutland's "Cat Country" (WJAN 94.5/WJEN 95.1
Sunderland) fooled the local paper a couple of weeks ago when it
brought new morning jock Don Glaze to town. Glaze started his rutland
career by standing on a street corner downtown with a sign that said
"Will Work Now!" He told reporters he had just moved to Rutland from
Illinois after driving out to follow the woman he loved, then being
dumped. The newspaper ate it up, only to run a follow-up the next day
admitting it had been duped. One station owner claimed she knew
nothing about it, but others at the recently-sold station told the
Herald the whole thing had been planned out as a way to draw attention
to WJAN/WJEN following the departure of Glaze's predecessor Willie
Clark.

Not much doing in MASSACHUSETTS this week, except in Ware, where some
familiar voices are returning to WARE (1250). Former WHYN Springfield
GM Gary James is consulting the station, which is promoting his return
and that of longtime news director J.P. Ellery.

We hear WBUR-FM (90.9 Boston) is no longer announcing WKKL (90.7 West
Barnstable) in its station IDs -- and we look forward to hearing from
our Cape readers whether the high-school station is still simulcasting
WBUR, something that's become superfluous with the advent of WBUR
(1240 West Yarmouth) in the last few years. Speaking of the WBUR
network, we note a Providence Journal story about the
Rhode Island affiliate, WRNI (1290 Providence), in which the station
claims it will add a Newport outlet later this year. We'll keep
watching for this one...

On the TV side of things, WBZ-TV (Channel 4) could soon have new
viewers in the Canadian Maritimes. The Fundy cable systems which
serve most of New Brunswick have asked the CRTC for permission to
carry WBZ instead of WTOL (Channel 11) from Toledo, Ohio. WBZ is
already seen on cable in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and
Newfoundland.

And with that, it's on to NEW YORK, beginning down in the Big Apple,
where banned-in-Boston Opie & Anthony were handing out CDs on the
sidewalk in front of WNEW (102.7). The duo claimed they were getting
rid of the station's music collection to prepare for the rumored
switch to all-talk.

Up the Hudson a bit, WRNQ (92.1 Poughkeepsie) has applied to move its
transmitter into the hills across the river. WRNQ currently uses 2150
watts at 117 meters AAT from a residential neighborhood west of
downtown; they want to go to 520 watts at 317 meters from the WTBY
(Channel 54) tower -- which, ironically, is not where WTBY
wants to put its new DTV signal on channel 27. That CP specifies
Beacon Mountain, 30 miles or so to the south (and, of course, much
closer to New York City!)

Plenty of changes this week in Albany, beginning at WKLI (100.9)/WKBE
(100.3 Warrensburg), which has started using the "Point" nickname that
briefly surfaced across town at 104.9 earlier this spring. We hear a
new jock lineup will be unveiled soon to go along with the modern AC
format. The competitor at 104.9 has been heard using the "WZMR" calls
that the FCC has yet to acknowledge (they think the Altamont station
is WAAP, a set of calls it never actually used on-air); it's also
reportedly applying to increase power (although there's no sign of
that in the FCC database, either). WABY-FM (94.5 Ravena) is now using
ABC's Stardust satellite format outside of morning drive. On the TV
side, Kathy Gazda is leaving Fox affiliate WXXA (Channel 23) to become
news director of WB affiliate KSWB (Channel 69) out in San Diego.
Gazda founded the Fox 23 news operation a few years ago after several
years on-air at other Albany stations. WXXA's owner, Clear Channel,
is one of two companies rumored to be looking at purchasing or LMAing
WMHQ (Channel 45) after Sinclair's deal to buy the public TV outlet
fell through.

In the Mohawk Valley, WODZ (1450 Rome) has dropped its simulcast with
oldies FM WODZ-FM (96.1) to take on religion from new owner Bible
Broadcasting and new calls WYFY. At rhythmic CHR WOWZ (97.9
Whitesboro)/WOWB (105.5 Little Falls), John Carucci takes over as PD
from the departed J.P. Marks. Carucci was promotion manager at WSEN
(92.1 Baldwinsville) in the Syracuse market.

And at Jacor/Rochester, some new voices on the air include Steve
Simolo, who joins news-talk WHAM (1180) as evening and weekend news
anchor after years at WSFW (1110/99.3 Seneca Falls), and a bunch of
voice-tracked generic jocks from Tampa who are trying to sound local
on "Kiss" WKGS (106.7 Irondequoit). We say "trying" because one was
heard talking about the "ah-MERKS" (the Amerks, the local minor-league
hockey team we all call the "AM-erks") playing at the "BCA," which we
think is the venue now called the "Blue Cross Arena" but still
universally known by its old name, the "War Memorial." Yes, we know
voicetracking can and does have its place (just ask all the many
Boston jocks -- Ed McMann, Dale Dorman, J.J. Wright, Mike Addams --
doing shifts for Chancellor and Greater Media stations in Chicago,
Orlando, Detroit, and elsewhere), but when it's done without any
attempt to make the "local color" believable, it shows.

That's it for another week! Welcome back to our readers on
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